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Several scoring systems are currently used to predict prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but none of them integrates liver function, systemic inflammation, and tumor characteristics in a unified model. The current study aimed to develop and validate a novel prognostic score that integrates liver function, systemic inflammation, and tumor characteristics in a unified model to predict the prognosis of HCC after curative resection.Patients with HCC who underwent curative liver resection were included in a training set (n = 1027). Multivariate Cox regression was performed to determine the risk factors for a poor prognosis. A prognostic score was developed by assigning points for risk factors in proportion to beta coefficients in a Cox multivariable model. Predictive performance and distinction ability of the prognostic score were further evaluated in two independent validation cohorts treated with either curative resection (n = 281) or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) (n = 404) and compared with 16 other models.The prognostic predictive system, named the function-inflammation-burden-alpha-fetoprotein (FIBA) score, was derived by assigning points for six independent predictors including albumin, total bilirubin, lymphocyte count, diameter of the largest tumor, number of tumors, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). The FIBA score showed an outperformed predictive value compared with other systems in both training and validation cohorts by giving the highest C-index, likelihood ratio chi-square values, and Wald test values as well as the lowest Akaike information criterion.The FIBA score can be used to stratify HCC patients treated with curative resection. Meanwhile, the FIBA score performs well against other prognostic scoring systems and is potentially broadly applicable to a TACE-treated patient cohort.

Hui-Zhou Li,1 Jie Tan,1 Tian Tang,2 Tian-Zhi An,3 Jun-Xiang Li,4 Yu-Dong Xiao1 1Department of Radiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Interventional Radiology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Interventional Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550002, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Interventional Radiology, Guizhou Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital, Guiyang, 550004, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yu-Dong XiaoDepartment of Radiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, No. 139 Middle Renmin Road, Changsha, 410011, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13637403027Fax +86 731-85292116Email xiaoyudong222@csu.edu.cnPurpose: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is recommended in patients with unresectable HCC beyond the Milan criteria (MC). However, the long-term efficacy of TACE remains unsatisfactory. Percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) is a curative therapy for early-stage HCC that provides better local tumor control than TACE; however, MWA is limited for large or multifocal lesions. We aimed to compare treatment efficacy and downstaging rate following combined TACE-MWA and TACE alone in patients with unresectable HCC beyond the MC.Patients and Methods: Patients with unresectable HCC beyond the MC who underwent either TACE-MWA (n=91) or TACE alone (n=140) at four medical institutions were included. Potential influencing factors on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were included in the Cox regression analysis. Propensity-score matching of patients treated with TACE-MWA and TACE alone was performed. Differences in OS and PFS were compared with the Log rank test. Patients who met the University of California, San Francisco criteria were eligible for assessment of the probability of downstaging within the MC. Downstaging rate was compared between the two groups.Results: In multivariate analysis, treatment with TACE alone was an independent predictor of poor PFS (P=0.011) and OS (P< 0.001). Both PFS (P=0.043) and OS (P=0.002) were significantly higher in patients treated with TACE-MWA than those treated with TACE alone. The downstaging rate was higher in patients treated with TACE-MWA than those treated with TACE alone (P=0.039).Conclusion: Compared with TACE alone, TACE-MWA may offer a survival benefit in terms of OS and PFS in HCC patients beyond the MC. Additionally, TACE-MWA may provide higher probability of downstaging within the MC than TACE alone, thereby increasing the possibility of liver transplantation.Keywords: microwave ablation, transarterial chemoembolization, survival, propensity score-matching, Milan criteria

Purpose: To develop and validate a random forest (RF) based predictive model of early refractoriness to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: A total of 227 patients with unresectable HCC who initially treated with TACE from three independent institutions were retrospectively included. Following a random split, 158 patients (70%) were assigned to a training cohort and the remaining 69 patients (30%) were assigned to a validation cohort. The process of variables selection was based on the importance variable scores generated by RF algorithm. A RF predictive model incorporating the selected variables was developed, and five-fold cross-validation was performed. The discrimination and calibration of the RF model were measured by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Results: The potential variables selected by RF algorithm for developing predictive model of early TACE refractoriness included patients' age, number of tumors, tumor distribution, platelet count (PLT), and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). The results showed that the RF predictive model had good discrimination ability, with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.863 in the training cohort and 0.767 in the validation cohort, respectively. In Hosmer-Lemeshow test, the RF model had a satisfactory calibration with P values of 0.538 and 0.068 in training cohort and validation cohort, respectively. Conclusion: The RF algorithm-based model has a good predictive performance in the prediction of early TACE refractoriness, which may easily be deployed in clinical routine and help to determine the optimal patient of care.

Liver resection (LRE) and microwave ablation (MWA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been widely compared.To compare the therapeutic outcomes of percutaneous MWA and LRE for HCC in ideal candidates for ablation according to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging METHODS: Between August 2013 and November 2020, 483 consecutive patients meeting criteria for "ideal candidates for ablation" per the BCLC staging initially treated with MWA (n = 168) or LRE (n = 315) were included. Patients were further divided into BCLC-0 (n = 116) and BCLC-A (n = 367) groups. Overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) and post-procedure-related complication rates were compared before and after propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) in the overall population and subgroups. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to determine whether the treatment modality was an independent prognostic factor.LRE had a better RFS and similar OS and post-procedure-related complication rates compared to MWA in the overall population and in the BCLC-A subgroup both before and after PSM and IPTW. However, the OS, RFS and post-procedure-related complication rates were equivalent between the two groups before and after PSM and IPTW in patients with BCLC-0 disease. The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that LRE was associated with better RFS over MWA in overall population (p = 0.003; HR = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.51-0.87) and BCLC-A disease (p = 0.046; HR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.56-0.99), while it did not differ in OS.An 'ideal candidate for ablation' according to the BCLC staging system may not be an ideal candidate for MWA. However, patients with BCLC-0 may be the optimal population for MWA.

Tian-Cheng Wang,1,2 Tian-Zhi An,3 Jun-Xiang Li,4,* Peng-Fei Pang1,* 1Department of Interventional Medicine, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Interventional Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Interventional Radiology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Peng-Fei Pang; Jun-Xiang Li Email pangpf@mail.sysu.edu.cn; 357936984@qq.comBackground: Mounting evidence has shown that systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), a novel prognostic biomarker based on peripheral lymphocyte, neutrophil and monocyte counts, is associated with poor prognosis for several tumors. However, the prognostic value of SIRI in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is elusive. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between SIRI and clinical outcomes in these patients.Methods: A total of 194 consecutive patients who underwent TACE were included in this study. Patients were stratified into high and low SIRI groups based on the cut-off value using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Independent risk factors for tumor response were analyzed using forward stepwise logistic regression. A one-to-one propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to compare progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) between low and high SIRI patients. The discriminatory power of the combination of number of tumors and SIRI in predicting initial TACE response was evaluated by ROC analysis.Results: Patients were divided into high SIRI (> 0.88) and low SIRI (≤ 0.88) groups. High SIRI (p = 0.003) and more than three tumors (p = 0.002) were significantly related to poorer tumor response. Moreover, the low SIRI group had longer PFS and OS than the high SIRI group (both P < 0.05) before and after PSM. Combination of SIRI and number of tumors can improve the predictive ability to predict initial TACE response with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.678.Conclusion: Pretreatment peripheral blood SIRI was found to be an independent predictor of tumor response and clinical outcomes in patients with HCC undergoing TACE. Patients with high SIRI may have a poor prognosis.Keywords: systemic inflammation response index, hepatocellular carcinoma, transarterial chemoembolization, biomarker, survival

Intestinal micro-ecological imbalances impair the intestinal barrier and induce intestinal inflammation, for example, ulcerative colitis (UC). According to the latest research, abnormalities in intestinal microbiota structure and their metabolites play a dominant role in UC progression; in addition, they could affect the mucus barrier based on different factors. Although numerous studies have confirmed the important role of intestinal microbiota in UC pathogenesis, the intricate connection between microbiota and metabolites and mucus barrier in UC occurrence remains unclear, and correlation analyses of differential microbiota and their metabolites under UC are relatively scarce.To reveal the differential intestinal microbiota and metabolites in UC pathogenesis and explore more sensitive biomarker compositions.We used the antibiotic combination method to establish intestinal pseudo-aseptic mice; afterward, dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) was applied to establish an acute experimental colitis mice model. Colitis severity, assessed based on disease activity index, colorectal length, colorectal wet weight, and histological lesions, and mucus-related staining (mucopolysaccharide alcian blue and immunofluorescence of mucin), was compared between the pseudo-aseptic and bacterial colitis mice. Finally, differential intestinal microbiota, metabolites, and their association and correlations, were analyzed by 16s rDNA sequencing in combination with non-targeted metabolomics, through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.Compared with the pseudo-aseptic mice, intestinal bacteria positive mice were more severely ill and their intestinal mucus loss was more pronounced in DSS-induced colitis (Microbiota and their metabolites are major factors regulating the composition and function of mucus, in turn influencing the function and structure of intestinal mucus barrier under colitis. The different microbiota and metabolites identified in the present study could be novel biomarkers for colitis.

BACKGROUND Recent research suggests that although prokinetic agents, acid suppressors, and radical treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection may be effective in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD), a large proportion of patients still fail to respond to these treatments or may suffer from severe adverse reactions. Many traditional Chinese medicinal herbs can regulate the status of the entire body and have special advantages in the treatment of functional diseases. The present study was designed to verify the efficacy of Biling Weitong Granules (BLWTG), a traditional Chinese medicinal herbal compound formula, in alleviating epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) in FD patients, in an attempt to provide an effective prescription for the clinical treatment of this disease. AIM To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of BLWTG in treating EPS in patients with FD. METHODS In this multicenter, stratified, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group clinical trial, eligible patients were randomized into the BLWTG and placebo groups who were treated for 6 wk. Efficacy indicators including the severity and frequency of EPS and the time to pain resolution and safety indicators including adverse events were observed and compared. RESULTS The baseline demographic data and clinical characteristics, such as epigastric pain symptoms, pain intensity, and frequency of attacks, were matched between the two groups before randomization. After 6 wk of treatment and after the center effect was eliminated, the epigastric pain was significantly improved in 28.33% and 85.59% of the patients in the placebo and BLWTG groups, respectively (P < 0.05). At 6 wk, the resolution rate of epigastric pain was 15% and 69.49% in the placebo and BLWTG groups, respectively (P < 0.05). The differences of total FD clinical score between these two groups were significant (P < 0.05) at 2, 4, and 6 wk (P < 0.05). The scores of each item and the total score in the Functional Digestive Disorders Quality of Life Questionnaire showed significant differences between the two groups at 6 wk after both the center and interaction effects were eliminated (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the two groups, and no serious adverse event was noted during the observation. CONCLUSION Compared with placebo, BLWTG markedly improved EPS in FD patients without causing serious adverse reactions.

Objective To investigative whether the odds tumor enhancement ratio (OTER) on cross-sectional imaging is a prognostic factor for hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Methods This study involved 126 patients who underwent TACE from May 2015 to March 2019. The signal intensity/Hounsfield units (HU) was measured by placing regions of interest on the tumor and surrounding liver in unenhanced and arterial-phase contrast-enhanced cross-sectional images. The OTER was calculated as follows: OTER = (HUTUMORart − HUTUMORun)/ (HULIVERart − HULIVERun). Univariate analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with overall survival (OS). Variables with a P value of Results The median OS was 757 days. Tumors with a peripheral location, small size, and low OTER had better OS than those with a central location, large size, and high OTER. OS did not differ according to the extent of tumor involvement or tumor enhancement pattern. The OTER, tumor location, and size were included in the multivariate Cox regression analysis. A low OTER was the predictor of better OS. Conclusion A high OTER is a risk factor for poor OS in patients undergoing TACE. This should be taken into consideration before the procedure.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a deadly chronic interstitial lung disease with no effective treatment options other than lung transplantation. Allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) are considered ideal as seed cells for stem cell-based therapy, and some studies illustrated the therapeutic effect of ADSCs on IPF, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.Methods: A single intratracheal dose of bleomycin (BLM) was administered to induce pulmonary injury/fibrosis in C57BL/6 mice, after GFP-labeled mouse ADSCs (mADSCs) were implanted intratracheally to explore their potential therapeutic effects in the inflamed/fibrotic lung microenvironment. The mADSCs were then retrieved through fluorescence-activated cell sorting and subjected to single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq).Results: Our data indicate that the single-dose intratracheal administration of mADSCs could significantly increase the life span of IPF mice by remodeling the extracellular matrix and promoting the polarization of macrophages to an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Conclusions: A single intratracheal injection of mADSCs alleviated BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis by readjustment of the mouse lung microenvironment, which was reflected in changes of the lung C1QB+, APOE+ and TREM2+ macrophages in the mouse model.

Aim at the defects of easy to fall into the local minimum point and the low convergence speed of back propagation (BP) neural network in the gesture recognition, a new method that combines the chaos algorithm with the genetic algorithm (CGA) is proposed. According to the ergodicity of chaos algorithm and global convergence of genetic algorithm, the basic idea of this paper is to encode the weights and thresholds of BP neural network and obtain a general optimal solution with genetic algorithm, and then the general optimal solution is optimized to the accurate optimal solution by adding chaotic disturbance. The optimal results of the chaotic genetic algorithm are used as the initial weights and thresholds of the BP neural network to recognize the gesture. Simulation and experimental results show that the real-time performance and accuracy of the gesture recognition are greatly improved with CGA.

Residential area, usually consisting of buildings and vegetation, is one of the dominant land use types and an important kind of habitat in the urban area. Therefore, it plays an important role in urban biodiversity conservation. Previous studies found that plant diversity abroad in urban residential areas was influenced by socioeconomic factors. However, it is not clear whether this result hold for Chinese cities which have completely different urban management regime. In this study, we investigated plant species diversity in 39 residential neighborhoods in Shanghai. Biodiversity indexes, regression analysis, and partial least square regression analysis were employed to estimate the relationships between plant diversity and socioeconomic factors of population density, house price, house age and greenspace coverage. Our results showed that socioeconomic factors did affect plant diversity in urban residential areas in Shanghai. The effects varied with plant species, population density, house price, house age, and greenspace coverage. The house age had the strongest effect on most plant taxa, then followed by population density, house price, and greenspace coverage. We tested the hypotheses of "luxury effect" and "legacy effect", and found that they only partially explained the spatial distribution of plant taxa in Shanghai. These results could provide insights for management and conservation of plant diversity, as well as urban landscape planning and design in Shanghai.居住区是城市地区主要的土地利用类型之一,也是城市生物的重要生境之一,在生物多样性保护中发挥着重要作用.前人研究发现,国外城市居住区的植物多样性受到社会经济水平的影响,在中国的城市管理体制下,上述结论是否成立有待证明.本研究对上海市39个居住区进行植物多样性调查,选取人口密度、房价、房龄、绿化率4个社会经济指标,利用单因素分析和偏最小二乘回归分析方法,探讨社会经济因素对上海市居住区植物多样性的影响.结果表明: 社会经济因素会影响城市居住区的植物多样性,人口密度、房价、房龄和绿化率对不同分类群的物种多样性的影响各异.其中,房龄对大多数分类群的影响效果最大,其次是人口密度、绿化率和房价.本研究证明,“奢侈效应”和“遗产效应”假说在上海城市居住区只适用于一部分植物类群.研究结果可为上海的城市植物多样性的维持、保护、管理以及城市和景观规划提供参考.

Heweijiangni decoction (HWJND) is an effective traditional Chinese medicine prescription in clinical treatment of nonerosive reflux disease (NERD). Esophageal hypersensitivity and acid contribute to the disease. However, the exact underlying mechanism of action remains unclear. In this study, we observed the effect of HWJND on esophageal morphology in a rat model of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced visceral hypersensitivity followed by acid exposure. Esophageal morphology was assessed by measuring the extent of dilated intercellular spaces (DIS), desmosome disruption, and mitochondrial fragmentation. HWJND in low, moderate, and high doses relieved DIS and desmosome disruption in esophageal epithelium compared with model group (Plt;0.05 for all doses). In addition, HWJND in high dose protected mitochondria from fragmentation (Plt;0.05). Other findings suggest that DIS and mitochondrial fragmentation are independent events, and that omeprazole protects mitochondria. Overall, HWJND significantly resists esophageal morphology changes in OVA-induced and acid exposure rat model.

The study evaluated GIMMS NDVI based on MODIS NDVI and SPOT NDVI over the same period from 2000 to 2015. We assessed their absolute values, dynamics, trends and cross-relationships between any two of the NDVIs for the national scale, as well as four separate land use types, i.e., paddy field, dry land, forest, and grassland. GIMMS NDVI was numerically greater than MODIS NDVI and SPOT NDVI. The three NDVIs exhibited equal capability of capturing monthly phenological variations. During the study period, the three NDVIs showed increasing trends in most regions, with GIMMS NDVI showing the smallest increment. Pronounced differences were identified in trends between GIMMS NDVI and MODIS NDVI or SPOT NDVI in the northwest, northeast, south-central China, Tibetan Plateau and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, implying that GIMMS NDVI trends in these regions should be interpreted with caution. High correlations existed between the three datasets. MODIS NDVI and SPOT NDVI showed stronger correlations at national scale. The GIMMS NDVI and MODIS NDVI were in highest accordance for dry land, while MODIS NDVI and SPOT NDVI were in higher accordance for the paddy field, forest, and grassland than dry lands.以MODIS NDVI和SPOT NDVI数据为基准对2000—2015年重叠时段的GIMMS NDVI数据进行评价.在全国尺度以及水田、旱地、林地、草地4种土地类型上对比分析3种数据的数值差异、动态一致性、变化趋势差异和两两间相关性.结果表明: GIMMS NDVI在数值上整体高于MODIS NDVI和SPOT NDVI,3种数据在反映植被月动态方面能力相当;研究期内3种NDVI数据在全国大部分区域均呈增加趋势,GIMMS的增加幅度最小,且在我国西北、东北、中南、青藏高原及云贵高原的部分地区与另两套数据差异较大,表明在研究该区域时应对GIMMS NDVI数据的使用有所保留;各数据间两两相关性较强,在全国尺度上MODIS NDVI与SPOT NDVI的相关性更好,旱地GIMMS NDVI与MODIS NDVI的相关性更好,水田、林地、草地MODIS NDVI与SPOT NDVI的相关性更好.

In this paper, the design method for a two-dimensional (2D) beam-scanning reflectarray based on liquid crystals (LCs) and static driving technique in the millimeter-wave band is proposed. The reflectarray is composed of multi-resonant elements which obtain the phase shift by applying the driving voltage on the LC. The LC elements of the reflectarray are controlled by static driving method. In order to reduce the negative impact of the densely distributed LC driving lines on the performance of the reflectarray, a novel LC driving strategy is presented to further reduce the number of driving lines. Subarray partition is employed, and more importantly, the ground plane of the reflectarray is divided into several segments so that about one third part of the driving lines can be transferred from the patch layer to the ground plane layer. A 32 × 30 reflectarray is designed and taken for an example to demonstrate the proposed method. Full wave numerical simulations are conducted, and the results show large beam scanning ranges of the reflectarray over 50° in the plane containing the offset feed and over 40° in the plane perpendicular to the feed plane.

Background Functional constipation (FC) is a common gastrointestinal disorder characterized by slow bowel movement and defecation difficulties, significantly impacting patients' quality of life and exerting heavy financial burden to whole society. However, more than 50% FC patients are not completely satisfied with current therapies and alternative therapies are urgently required. Increasing evidences have demonstrated that traditional Chinese medicine has a good therapeutic effect on FC, which is well known for its multitarget and multimode effects on diverse diseases as well as less side effects. Furthermore, studies proved that Qi Di Laxative Decoction was an effective treatment for FC. Its safety and effectiveness should be verified by further studies. Methods We will search the following electronic databases for randomized controlled trials to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Qi Di Laxative Decoction in treating FC: Wanfang and Pubmed Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Excerpta Medica database. Each database will be searched from inception to November 2020. The entire process will include study selection, data extraction, risk of bias assessment, and meta-analyses. Results This proposed study will evaluate the clinical efficacy of Qi Di Laxative Decoction for patients with FC. The outcomes will include changes in FC relief and adverse effect. Conclusion This proposed systematic review will evaluate the existing evidence on the clinical efficacy of Qi Di Laxative Decoction in treating FC. Dissemination and ethics The results of this review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication. Because all of the data used in this systematic review and meta-analysis has been published, this review does not require ethical approval. Furthermore, all data will be analyzed anonymously during the review process. Osf registration number DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/M2ESR.

Background Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (hepatic I/R) has been found to induce cognitive dysfunction. The NR2B subunit of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is a major factor in memory and learning processes, and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) may modulate this NMDA receptor. Therefore, in this study, sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, a donor of H 2 S) was administered in an animal model of hepatic I/R to investigate the effects of H 2 S on cognitive impairment and expression of NR2B. Materials and methods NaHS (5 mg/kg) or normal saline was administered intraperitoneally once a day for 11 consecutive days, during which a rat model of 70% hepatic I/R was established on the fourth day. Cognitive function was evaluated using a Morris water maze, mRNA and protein levels of the NR2B subunit were detected in the hippocampus by RT-PCR and Western blotting. All these tests were performed on postoperative days 1, 3, 5, and 7. Results Cognitive dysfunction was detected in the hepatic I/R group, and this dysfunction was associated with a decrease in the mRNA and protein levels of the NR2B subunit of the NMDA receptors in the hippocampus. In contrast, treatment with NaHS significantly ameliorated the impairment of cognitive function caused by hepatic I/R, and an increase in mRNA and protein levels of the NR2B subunit was detected in the corresponding hippocampus tissues. Conclusions The present data suggest that H 2 S exerts a protective effect on hepatic I/R-induced cognitive impairment, and this effect may be associated with the NR2B subunit of the NMDA receptors. H 2 S may represent a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of postoperative cognitive dysfunction after liver surgery.

Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV; genus Tobamovirus) infects frequently the grafted watermelon and is widely distributed in China. Investigating the transmission modes and their efficiency is urgently needed to understand the factors contributing to the epidemiology of this viral disease. In the present study, we found that the occurrence of CGMMV in a bottle gourd seed production base reached 100%, while the contamination rate and transmission rate were 100 and 0.92%, respectively. The bottle gourd plants showed obvious mottle symptom on leaves starting 36 days after seed sowing. The long latent period of CGMMV in seedlings implies a potential risk to use contaminated seeds in the production of grafted watermelon. This virus could overwinter in soil with debris of infected plants, and the infection rate of CGMMV from contaminated soils was 10.30%. CGMMV could be transmitted from infected watermelon plants to healthy ones by pruning at least to the ninth plant during the whole growing season. The transmission distance was 1.87 m by drip irrigation and 2.31 m by flow irrigation. This study suggested that contaminated seeds, contaminated soil, pruning and irrigation could transmit CGMMV at different efficiency, and all contribute to the epidemiology of CGMMV.

The present study aimed to explore the mechanism of action of Gegen Qinlian decoction (GGQLD) in experimental non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A total of 30 rats were randomly divided into five groups: The chow, model, high- and low-dose GGQLD (GGQLD-H and GGQLD-L, respectively) and resveratrol (Resl) groups, and were treated with saline, GGQLD and Resl when a model of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD was established. Blood lipid and liver enzymes were detected following treatment for 8 weeks and liver tissue pathology was observed using Oil Red O and haematoxylin and eosin staining. Furthermore, the liver protein and mRNA expression of sirtuin (Sirt)1, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator (PGC)-1α and nuclear factor κ-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) were measured using western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Compared with the chow group, the model group demonstrated significantly increased serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels (P

This paper introduced the principle about the technology of Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) of quantitative analysis. It was reviewed about the quantitative analysis of LIBS reduced method of matrix. The reason of cause matrix effect was not clear, but the matrix effect on the LIBS quantitative analysis of the impact can not be ignored. The LIBS quantitative analysis method was divided into two categories: one was based on the calibration curve with the mathematical matrix correction method; the other was combined with neural network reduction method of matrix. This paper was introduced for the two categories of methods, and gives an example to explain.

Principle of barcode technology was analyzed. After introducing the characters and applications of PDF417 two-dimensional barcode, we presented an anti-counterfeiting application of PDF417 barcode combining digital anti-fake technology in the field of cigarette.

Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) is a rare nongenetic polyposis syndrome first reported by Cronkhite and Canada in 1955.1 Up to the present time, the literature consists of ∼400 cases of CCS with the majority being reported from Japan2 although 49 cases have been described in China.3 CCS is characterized by diffuse polyposis of the digestive tract in association with ectodermal changes, such as onychomadesis, alopecia, and cutaneous hyperpigmentation. The principal symptoms of CCS are diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain, and other gastrointestinal complications, such as protein-losing enteropathy and malnutrition. It has been traditional to consider that CCS is associated with a poor prognosis. This paper describes a relatively mild case and reviews the literature, which more recently, suggests that it may be a more benign condition that might actually be reversible with treatment. There is some evidence that infection or disturbed immunity may be involved in the pathophysiology and that targeting such abnormalities could have therapeutic potential. A strong case could be made for establishing an international case registry for this disease so that the pathophysiology, treatment, and prognosis could become much better understood.

In this paper we consider the single machine past-sequence-dependent (p-s-d) setup times scheduling problems with general position-dependent and time-dependent learning effects. By the general position-dependent and time-dependent learning effects, we mean that the actual processing time of a job is not only a function of the total normal processing times of the jobs already processed, but also a function of the job’s scheduled position. The setup times are proportional to the length of the already processed jobs. We consider the following objective functions: the makespan, the total completion time, the sum of the θth (θ ⩾ 0) power of job completion times, the total lateness, the total weighted completion time, the maximum lateness, the maximum tardiness and the number of tardy jobs. We show that the problems of makespan, the total completion time, the sum of the θth (θ ⩾ 0) power of job completion times and the total lateness can be solved by the smallest (normal) processing time first (SPT) rule, respectively. We also show that the total weighted completion time minimization problem, the maximum lateness minimization problem, maximum tardiness minimization problem and the number of tardy jobs minimization problem can be solved in polynomial time under certain conditions.

Dongting Lake area is one of the major marshland schistosomiasis endemic areas in China. In recent years, spatial epidemiology is widely used in the research of schistosomiasis, which is a new opportunity to break through the current wandering situation of schistosomiasis control. In this article, both the generalized and Dongting-Lake-specific epidemic indicators of schistosomiasis are reviewed to provide the basis to construct the schistosomiasis Geographic Information System (GIS) database of Hunan Province.

This paper studies a substitution secant/finite difference (SSFD) method for solving large scale sparse unconstrained optimization problems. This method is a combination of a secant method and a finite difference method, which depends on a consistent partition of the columns of the lower triangular part of the Hessian matrix. A q-superlinear convergence result and an r-convergence rate estimate show that this method has good local convergence properties. The numerical results show that this method may be competitive with some currently used algorithms.

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of conscious sedation using target controlled infusion of propofol combined with a single dose of fentanyl during endoscopic variceal ligation in patients with liver cirrhosis.Methods: Forty-eight patients with liver cirrhosis scheduled for endoscopic variceal ligation were randomly assigned to deep sedation group (DS group) with intravenous bolus of propofol and conscious sedation group (CS group) with target controlled infusion of propofol, 1 μg/kg fentanyl was intravenously injected in each patient before administration of propofol. Cardiorespiratory parameters were monitored, and the side-effects were recorded. The depth of sedation was assessed by both of the sale of observer′s assessment of alertness/sedation (OAA/S) and the bispectral index (BIS). The quality of sedation/analgesia was evaluated by the endoscopist and patients using Visual Analog Scores (VAS). The recovery level was evaluated with the Aldrete scales.Results: No significant differences were found on demographic data and initial parameters in the two groups. Compared with the CS group, the changes of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) and the signs of respiratory depression were significant in the DS group (p0.05), but a higher degree of satisfaction for patient was found in the DS group (9.3±0.6 versus 7.9±0.7, p

Using the high spatial resolution (2.5 m) color-infrared aerial photos acquired in 1989, 1994, 2000 and 2005, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal characteristics of rapid urban expansion in central Shanghai with urban expansion intensity index and gradient analysis. Results showed that urban land use in Shanghai increased rapidly in a "pancake" style during the study period, and the anisotropic urban expansion moved the urban center 2.62 km toward southwest. The urban land use expansion intensity doubled and showed a rural-urban gradient. The most intensive urban expansion zone fell in the rural-urban transition zone, indicating the dominance of peripheral expansion as the primary urban expansion mode in Shanghai. However, the urban land use intensity decreased with time at the urban center. The primary driving forces of urban expansion included support from government policies and decision-making, enhanced economic activities, societal fixed assets investment, urban infrastructure investment, extension of transportation routes, as well as increase in urban population.

To observe the efficacy of Jinghuaweikang gelatin pearls plus proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based triple regimen in the treatment of chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) patients with Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection.For this multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical study, 90 patients of endoscopically confirmed CAG with positive H.pylori ((13)C or (14)C-urea breath test (UBT) or rapid urease test) were enrolled. There were 46 males and 44 females with an age range of (54 ± 10) years. None of them had H.pylori eradication background. They were randomly divided into 2 groups, Group LACJ (n = 45) received lansoprazole 30 mg+amoxicillin 1000 mg+clarithromycin 500 mg + jinghuaweikang gelatin pearls 240 mg, twice daily, for 10 days (d1-10) plus another 14 days (d11-24) only with jinghuaweikang gelatin pearls 240 mg, twice daily. Group LACB (n = 45) had standard quadruple regimen treatment: lansoprazole 30 mg+amoxicillin 1000 mg+clarithromycin 500 mg+bismuth potassium citrate 220 mg, twice daily for 10 days (d1-10). The status of H.pylori was detected by (13)C-UBT at least 28 days after therapy.The eradication rates in Groups LACJ and LACB were as follows: per-protocol (PP): 70.5% (31/44) and 83.3% (35/42), intention-to-treat (ITT): 68.9% (31/45) and 77.8% (35/45) (both P0.05). The symptomatic improvements of bloating in upper abdomen, belching and epigastric pain after treatment in both groups. And those in Group LACJ was higher than those of Group LACB, but no statistical difference existed between two groups (all P0.05).The efficacy of LACJ for the treatment of CAG patients with H.pylori infection is similar to LACB. And the symptomatic improvement of patients is better than LACB.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Chinese medicine (CM) intervention in the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) from liver enzyme (ALT), imaging (the liver/spleen CT ratio) and syndrome scores, and to establish standard methods for diagnosis and therapeutic efficacy evaluation with characteristics of CM.A multi-center, stratified randomized, parallel controlled, blindness-method evaluated, superiority trial was performed. Totally 204 patients were randomly allocated into two groups, 102 patients in the experimental group (treated with CM) and 102 patients in the control group [treated with Western medicine (WM)]. The alanine aminotransferase (ALT), liver/spleen CT ratio, and clinical symptoms were observed in both groups.Of the randomly allocated 204 cases from 4 hospitals, 3 patients were rejected, and 25 were lost. Totally 176 cases con- formed to the plan with complete follow-ups. After 3 months of treatment, syndrome scores and the improvement of partial clinical symptoms (fatigue and sallow complexion) were superior in the experimental group to those in the control group (P0.05). After 3 months of follow-up, the syndrome scores and improvement of partial clinical symptoms (fatigue and sallow complexion) were superior in the experimental group to those in the control group (P0.05). There was no statistical difference in improving liver enzymes or the liver/spleen CT ratio between the two groups (P0.05). There were 4 adverse reactions/adverse events in the two groups in the process of treatment, mainly covering drug-induced liver injury, diarrhea, and epigastric distension. Adverse reactions had nothing to do with CM treatment.Jianpi Shugan Recipe had obvious efficacy in treatment of NASH. It could remove the liver fat and play a role in anti-inflammation and liver protection. It also could improve the indices of liver enzymes and the liver/spleen CT ratio effectively, which was superior to Polyene Phosphatidylcholine Capsule (PPC) in improving clinical symptoms, especially for such symptoms as fatigue and sallow complexion.

To detect the snail habitats from the marshland of Eastern Dongting Lake Area, using the Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology based on the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite-02B (CBERS-02B) CCD images.According to the two typical traits of snail habitats in marshland including "water in summer and land in winter" and "no grass, no snails", the "water in summer and land in winter" region and the vegetation coverage region were calculated by RS image processing respectively. The two regions mentioned above were then overlapped to confirm the snail habitats through comparing with the data from field survey under spatial overlapping of Arcgis as the last step.In Eastern Dongting Lake area, the "water in summer and land in winter" region and vegetation coverage region were predicted based on the formula normalized difference water index (NDWI)0.01 and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)0.36, respectively. The snail habitat was determined by theme overlay of the two regions said above. The agreement rate between the prediction and the geospatial data of field survey was 93.55%, which demonstrated the final results were credible and reliable.CBERS-02B image could be used to detect the snail habitats and to monitor the changes of them, so as to find out the characteristics of distribution and the trends of diffusion. The snail index (discriminant 1 and 2) seemed to be suitable for the detection of snail habitats in the marshland of Lake area and used for the programs of snail control.

To explore the impact and regularity of snail population after changing of water level and to develop effective control and prediction programs.A typical snail habitat closed to Changjiang county in Yueyang city, Hunan province was selected as the survey field. Data on water level and the changing trend of snail population during 2001 - 2009 including the average water level, maximum and minimum water levels, snail and infected snail densities, proportion of sampling frames with living and infected snails etc. were collected. The distribution of water level and snail indexes were described and a general additive model (GAM) for the relationships between these indexes were also fitted.Impacts of the average water level and the watered-out days in current year in the surveyed field on the snail density were statistically significant (P0.01), showing a quadratic curve association. The snail density remained at the lowest level when the average water level was at 25.0 m and the surveyed field watered-out days was 120. The average water level in current year and the field watered-out days in the past year showed statistically significant impacts on the infected snail density (P0.001), the proportion of sampling frames with infected snails (P0.05) and living snails (P value neared 0.05), presented a quadratic curve, a cubic curve or even a more complicated piecewise curve association. Both the infected snail density and the proportion of sampling frames with infected snails remained at the lowest level when the average water level was at 25.0 m and the watered-out days in the past year was 110, while the proportion of sampling frames with living snails kept the lowest level when the average water level was at 25.0 m and the watered-out days in the past year was 160.The water level and the field watered-out days affected the development of snail population directly. The changing water level had an impact on snail population change, which mainly presented as nonlinear smooth function relation. Impact of the field watered out days on the infected snail density and the proportion of sampling frames with living snails and infected snails showed a hysteresis effect. The snail density was predicted to be retaining a high level when the water level was 24.0 m and the field watered-out days was 3 months. It had obvious advantages to fit the relationship of the changing water level and the snail indexes with a GAM which could get closer to the reality as well as easier to find and explain the potential associations and regulations.

By using GIS and RS techniques and RUSLE, the rainfall erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), vegetation and management factor (C), and slope length and steepness factor (LS) around Hangzhou Bay of Zhejiang Province, China were calculated to make a comprehensive sensitivity evaluation of soil erosion in the study area. In the meantime, the contribution of each natural factor, i. e., rainfall, soil texture, slope, and elevation, was analyzed, and a new approach, overlapping and ordering method, was developed to identify the key affecting factors in the given sensitive areas. In the study area, soil erosion was mainly at non-sensitive and low sensitive levels. The percentages of the areas with different soil erosion sensitivity varied with the strength of the affecting factors. Soil erosion sensitivity increased with increasing rainfall and slope, and the percentage of the area with high soil erosion sensitivity was the largest at elevation 200-500 meters. The overlapping and ordering method was a practicable approach in identifying the key affecting factors in given sensitive areas, being helpful to understand the mechanisms causing soil erosion.

By using the land use data interpreted with 1:50,000 color-infrared aerial photos of Shanghai collected in 1989 and 2005, and based on Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, the impacts of urban rail transit (URT) development in Shanghai on its urban land use change was quantitatively analyzed, and a preliminary prediction of the land use change from 2010 to 2025 was made with Markov probability models. The results showed that the URT accelerated the land use change, particularly from an agricultural dominated natural landscape in 1989 to a high-value man-made urban landscape primarily composed of residence and public facilities. URT increased the land use rate in the study area. From 1989 to 2005, public facility land, green space, agriculture land, land for other uses (primarily used for construction), and water area changed greatly, with the greatest change rate of the land for other uses and the lowest one of water area. From 2010 to 2025, the areas and proportions of agriculture land and water area would keep on decreasing, while those of man-made landscapes including residence and public facilities would increase continuously. From the viewpoints of increasing land use rate and its gain, the present land use structure along Shanghai URT should be further regulated to improve the intensive and sustainable use of land resources.

To comparatively study the effects of three TCM methods for activating blood circulation, i.e. in combined with resolving stasis (A), regulating qi (B) and supplementing qi (C), respectively, on early stage cell apoptosis in precancerous lesion of rats with chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG).Rat model of CAG with precancerous lesion was duplicated by insertion of spring in pylorus and gastric perfusion of high-salt hot paste; and the impact of treatment on cell apoptosis was determined using Annexin V/PI double labeled flow cytometry.After being intervened for 12 weeks, the early stage cell apoptosis rate in the natural recovery group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P0.01); while it lowered more significantly in the three groups receiving TCM therapeutic methods for activating blood circulation, showing significant difference compared with the natural recovery group (P0.01).Three therapies of activating blood circulation all show inhibitory action on the early stage apoptosis of precancerous lesion in CAG rats, which is possibly one of their action mechanisms for improving or reversing the precancerous lesion.

To set up a classification standard of mild and moderate traumatic brain injury, for the purpose of reliable data comparison derived from different laboratories.Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats was prepared by using a metallic pendulum-striker device. After injury, five variable parameters including the time of apnea and the areflexia, time of corneal reflex, external auditory canal stung reaction, body-righting reflex and needling reaction were determined and scored by using rat coma criterion. These data were judged and classified into mild and moderate head injury by brain patho-anatomy changes. Then the data were used to set up a multivariate discriminate equation.The distinguished probability of mild and moderate TBI according to actual direct measured value and the criterion were 88.9% and 91.9%, respectively.This method is able to classify mild and moderate TBI in rats.

The vertical and horizontal differences in the energy transmission, photosynthetically active radiation, and micrometeorological characteristics of forest canopy can lead to a considerable heterogeneity, which should be analyzed when estimating forest primary productivity. With Castanopsis fargesii, the dominant species in the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in Tiantong National Forest Park of Zhejiang Province as test object, this paper studied the vertical and horizontal variations of photosynthetic characteristics of its canopy. Vertically, the photosynthetic indices such as maximum photosynthetic rate (Amax), light saturation point (LSP), and carboxylation efficiency (CCE) of north-facing leaves in the canopy all declined in the sequence of top canopymid-canopybottom canopy. The mean values of light compensation point (LCP), respiration in light (Rd), and Amax from top canopy to bottom canopy reduced by 19.4% , 18.1% and 37.1% , respectively. The LSP and CCE of south-facing leaves followed the pattern of top canopybottom canopymid-canopy. These two indices decreased by 12.3% in bottom canopy and 71.4% in mid-canopy, compared with those in top canopy. The apparent quantum yield (AQY) of leaves followed the sequence of bottom canopytop canopymid-canopy, being 1.1 and 1.3 times higher at bottom canopy than at top- and mid-canopy, respectively. Horizontally, the Amax, LSP and CCE of south-facing leaves at top- and bottom canopy were 0.9%-31.5% higher than those of north-facing leaves. In mid-canopy however, the values of test six indices of north-facing leaves were 9.6%-63.2% higher than those of south-facing leaves. It was suggested that in order to estimate and model forest primary productivity accurately, the vertical and horizontal heterogeneity of photosynthetic characteristics of forest canopy should be analyzed.

Under the support of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and by using the aerial photos of 1982 and 2000, this paper analyzed the land use change in the eastern part of Chongming Island in past two decades. The results showed that agricultural land, water body, aqua-farm and coastal wetland were the main landscape components, and the land area for non-agricultural use was increased. The overall land use diversified increasingly. Agricultural land, aqua-farm and green land increased by 4050.2, 2566.2 and 901.4 hm2, respectively, while coastal wetland decreased by 7491.2 hm2. Aqua-farm was the land-use type with the highest annual change rate (54.6%), followed by green land (13.24%), traffic (4.49%), coastal wetland (-4.47%) and agricultural land (2.57%). The primary transitions of land use types were from coastal wetland to agricultural land, aqua-farm, green land and water body, from agricultural land to aqua-farm, residential land and green land, and from water body to agricultural land, aqua-farm and coastal wetland. Rapid socioeconomic development and government decision-making were the driving forces of land use change in the eastern part of Chongming Island.